[Mar 3-9'25] 🧘‍♂️🔥 From Ancient Wisdom to Climate Nihilism

🧘‍♂️🔥 From Ancient Wisdom to Climate Nihilism: This Week's Carbon Crossroads

Welcome to this week's edition of The Weekly Climate 🎉

References: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], and [6].

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‼️News you can't miss

Here's one important scary/bad (🙀), good (😻), interesting (😼) and fossil (💩) news item.

🙀 #ClimateNihilism: Trump's actions reflect a nihilistic desire for destruction, prioritizing corporate profits over environmental protection while ignoring Earth's habitability.

😻 #GridFlexibility: Electric vehicle batteries could provide up to 114TWh of capacity by 2030, helping avoid renewable energy curtailment and offering significant savings to EV owners.

😼 #CarbonSequestration: Indigenous peoples' ancient biochar technique proves effective for carbon sequestration, retaining carbon for thousands of years while enriching soils.

💩 #MethaneEmissions: Congress voted to roll back the methane fee aimed at reducing emissions, a setback for efforts to cut this potent greenhouse gas from the energy sector.

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👩‍⚕️ Status: Climate & Science

Let's look at how we're doing this week!

#ClimateChange: A study finds climate change significantly increased the likelihood and intensity of a recent heat wave in South Sudan, leading to school closures and health risks, particularly for vulnerable populations. With rising global temperatures, such extreme heat events may become more frequent, posing ongoing challenges for the region already facing instability and food insecurity.

#HistoricalEvidence: Scientists are recreating historical photographs in the Uinta Mountains to document climate change, revealing significant ecological shifts, such as rising tree lines and glacial retreat, over the past 150 years. The rapid changes observed between 2001 and 2024 highlight the urgent impact of climate change on these landscapes and ecosystems.

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📰 The 7 Grand Challenges

⚡️Decarbonize Electricity

Clean electricity is the one do-or-die challenge we must solve.

#TrumpPolicy: Trump's policies are expected to slow the clean energy transition by promoting fossil fuels and reducing support for renewables, but the momentum driven by market dynamics and private investments may continue despite these challenges. Electric vehicle sales are also affected, yet global demand for clean energy remains strong.

#NuclearInnovation: Researchers in Ohio have developed a small battery powered by nuclear waste radiation, demonstrating that gamma radiation can generate energy for small electronics. The prototype showed potential for scaling up to power technology in nuclear waste environments, offering a promising avenue for energy production and sensor applications.

#CoalExpansion: The EU ambassador to China urged Beijing to halt the construction of new coal-fired power plants, highlighting the contradiction between China's green ambitions and its increased coal approvals. Despite being a leader in renewable energy, China continues to expand coal capacity, raising concerns about its commitment to decarbonization and energy security.

🏘 Reduce impact of urban and rural areas

Lowering the impact of urban and rural areas.

#Climatemaxxing: Climatemaxxing encourages individuals to optimize their actions for climate change, framing it as a positive challenge rather than a guilt-driven sacrifice. This approach aims to empower people to see themselves as heroes in the climate narrative, promoting collective action and joy in sustainability efforts.